I read through the interesting stretching articles on this page and i made up my mind about the question: How often is stretching ok, when do I stretch too often?
At the moment I train:
-4 times a weak weight lifting (2 times legs, 2 times upper body)
-3 times jogging 3 miles
Is it ok if i stretch my legs 5 times a week (after jogging and weightlifting that engages legs) or is it definitely TOO MUCH STRETCHING?
besides:
the volume of the lifting and jogging is ok, i tried it for months and have good processes, but i never stretched that muche and im now frightened that the process of getting big leg muscles will stop
thank you for supporting and paying attention,
greetings from Heidelberg (so the bad english knowledge^^), your Tommy
It doesnt really matter, but you should stretch 4-6 hours from any aerobic or even more anaerobic exercise. You can basically stretch whole week, every day, every couple of hours when want to stretch so much but it has no obvious purpose.
I dunno about “too much”, but 3 times a week is more than enough to advance and maintain your stretching ability. I train about 13 different stretches for 15 minutes after my workouts at the gym (only legs and low-back). I don’t do any cardio, but I know from experience post-cardio stretching is easier.
I’ve been stretching for about 2 years now, and while I’m not taking it nearly as seriously as weight training, I’ve become very flexible compared to other people, taking most of the stretches to full or near-full limit, even the splits. I WAS NOT flexible by nature, had completely normal flexibility.
I’m no pro but I’ve never really heard of stretching too much. As long as you aren’t killing yourself doing it you should be fine.
Stretching is awesome, and usually there are babes in the stretching area. Take advantage sir.
It is possible to have too much flexibility in a given range of motion.
There are joints that primarily need stability and other joints that primarily need flexibility. Many people have problems that are based on having these the wrong way round.
be careful on hips. i’ve heard conflicting reports lately, but generally overstreching the hip, and hsoulder for that matter, is unwise. mike robertson has good articles on that, but recently him and nick tuminello diagreed. this is in specific reference to a hip stretch i quite like.
get on hands and knees
robertson says straighten one leg(left) and bend the other leg(right) so your hip externally rotates. as in your foot points towards the left, assuming you use the above instructions.
tuminello says this is bad, and as of yet i have seen no retort from robertson.
shoulders and hips need mobility, but im hesitant to say they need stretching. for example, you wouldnt stretch your elbow. so stretch your delts, lats, quads and hip specific muscles (which I don’t know the name of off the top of my head) but dont pull the joint out of socket
